The weekend of Dec. 4 are two days that are circled on every single area football team’s calendar heading into this season. The teams all are heading in wanting to make it to Broadview Stadium on the campus of the University at Buffalo for the Section VI title game.
The work to get there started on Aug. 17 and now the season is right around the corner. The teams are gearing up for a stretch that will see plenty of wins and losses in front of crowds rooting for them and against them.
Now that the season is here and training camps are wrapping up, it is time to look at and predict who will be standing out when the season is ending in early December.
Five storylines to watch
Can Newfane come close to replicating last season?
When Chuck Nagel was hired as the head coach of his alma mater, Newfane in 2012 he dreamed of years like last year. The Newfane Panthers had the best year in program history making it all the way to the state semifinals. Now, many of the players from that team are gone including quarterback Mac Capen, who threw for 1,262 yards with 11 touchdowns and two interceptions. Capen added 1,992 yards on the ground with 33 touchdowns. He also had 58 tackles, four tackles for loss, four interceptions, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
As a result, the question has to be asked, can Newfane go on a similar run this year? If you ask them, the answer is an unequivocal yes.
“Last season we had a great season,” Newfane senior Nasir Spencer said. “We had some dogs. We do the same this year. I’m just excited to get out there. I think we’ll be just as good.”
This year, Newfane will be looking for big things out of new quarterback Jesse Hughey who threw for 188 yards and two touchdowns as the backup signal caller. Now, it is his turn to take a step into the spotlight and lead Newfane on another deep postseason run.
Can Wilson overtake Newfane?
Since 1947, Wilson and Newfane have played on the football field. Last year, the rivalry reached a new height when the two teams played in the final game of the regular season to decide the Class D league title and then to decide the Section VI title a few weeks later.
Now, Wilson is hoping to get revenge on its rivals from 8 miles to the west. Wilson lost plenty of its own production including at the quarterback spot. But just like Newfane, it is hoping JV call-up Wyatt Sherman can get them over the hump and have a deep postseason run of their own.
“I want to go back to the championship,” Sherman said. “That’s my one thing. It’s a dream and actually play in it.”
Wilson is looking to have a better record than Newfane for the first time since 2023, when the Lakemen went 7-3 and the Panthers went 2-6.
The OC Rivals
Medina and Albion football played consistently for 128 years — until last year — but in recent years, the participation numbers for both teams were dwindling.Fewer kids were playing each year, and as a result, the teams have come together as a co-op and the combined team has been renamed the OC Rivals.
The team has come together with nine players from Medina and 14 from Albion. During training camp, the team was figuring out who would be the starting quarterback between Medina’s Preston Woodworth and Albion’s Boe Preston. The Rivals officially open its season at 7 p.m. Thursday when it goes to Akron.
Replacing successful signal callers will define seasons
Heading into this season, the quarterback room at Niagara Falls, Newfane, Wilson and Niagara Wheatfield will all look a little bit different after the graduation of key starters.
This year, Newfane is starting Jesse Hughey to replace Mac Capen while Wilson turns to Wyatt Sherman to replace Vic Cusastis. Niagara Falls is looking for John Smith to replace Michael Taylor.
The group are replacing quarterbacks who threw for a combined 5,390 yards, 54 touchdowns and 16 interceptions last year. The group includes both Capen and Cusastis who helped their respective teams go on deep postseason runs with Capen and Newfane going to the state semifinal.
When the teams break in their new signal callers this weekend, the players will be tested. But if they can respond well to those challenges, the teams are all primed for another good season.
If not, it might be a long season for the teams as the quarterbacks get more and more experience.
Which team is most likely to break a playoff drought?
Heading into this season there are three area teams with lengthy playoff droughts Niagara Wheatfield (2018), North Tonawanda (2016) and Lewiston-Porter (2012).
Heading into this season, after winning the Chuck Funke Bowl and barely missing the playoffs, the practices at North Tonawanda and Niagara Wheatfield have thoughts of ending its playoff droughts this year.
The team which is most likely to end its lengthy drought seems to be North Tonawanda, given the returning talent on its roster. This season, North Tonawanda is breaking in a new quarterback but is returning last year’s signal caller in a gadget role. The team is also returning defensive stalwart Jon Landen, who had 118 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, one sack and one interception.
Five teams to watch
Grand Island
Last year Grand Island went 6-4 and made it to the Section VI Class A semifinals for the first time since 2019. This year, the Vikings are returning 10 starters who made up for more than half of the team’s offensive production. One of the most important pieces returning is quarterback and linebacker Anthony Mantione, who is heading into his senior year determined to try to go further this season.
“Expectations are obviously to win the section championship but to take every game and win them all, play as best as we can every obviously,” Mantione said. “That will all be based off injuries. … Last year, we were a little hurt so our expectations I think fell short. But obviously to win the section.”
Newfane
One year after having the greatest season in Newfane history, the Panthers are not worried about what the team lost to graduation. Now, the Panthers are looking at what it has coming back. The Panthers are heading in with seven returners on offense and six returners on defense with six of those players playing both ways.
When the team opens up with Barker/Roy-Hart and over the rest of the season after that, the goal is simple. Make this season the best season in program history.
Niagara Falls
During the 2025 season, Niagara Falls had a rollercoaster campaign, which ended with a 20-14 loss to Lancaster in the Section VI Class AA tournament. After last season, Niagara Falls lost quarterback Michael Taylor and wide receiver/cornerback Darryl Smith to graduation.
Now the team is trying to replace the duo and get past the first round of the sectional tournament for the first time since 2017. The team is helped by returning linebacker Bradley Miller, who had 74 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, one sack, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
The road to the school’s first season finishing above .500 since 2016 when it faces off against Niagara Wheatfield at 7 p.m. Thursday.
OC Rivals
When the OC Rivals hit the field at 7 p.m. Thursday against Akron, it will be a history-making event. It will mean that the combined team of Medina and Albion are together, hitting the field as one. It is a move that will answer a lot of questions about what the new team looks like and how the squad plays.
The playbook is the same that Medina has been running for years under head coach Eric Valley, but what this year’s team will look like is still yet to be determined. The team will look to go on a deep postseason run and win either team’s first sectional crown since 2021.
Wilson
Just like Newfane, Wilson heads into this season needing to replace plenty of production while continuing to be hungry for a deep postseason run. That’s what happens when you walk off the field at Highmark Stadium dejected after a loss to Newfane in the Section VI Class D championship game.
This year’s Wilson team is looking for big things from the squad despite the fact that it graduated 16 seniors. The team will be relying on veteran running back Nick Lemke, who is one of nine seniors on this year’s team.
The squad will start its season at 7 p.m. Friday when it hosts JFK. The team will look to start 1-0 for the second year in a row.
Players to watch
Anthony Mantione, QB/LB, Jr. Grand Island
While every team only goes as far as their quarterback will take them, that remains the case for Grand Island and junior quarterback Anthony Mantione. Last season, Grand Island went 5-0 in games when Mantione had more touchdowns than turnovers while the team went 0-3 in games where he had more turnovers than touchdowns.
As a sophomore, Mantione threw for 953 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. He also had 106 carries for 569 yards and six touchdowns.
Mantione and the Vikings will be looking to win the program’s first sixth Section VI title all-time and first since 2005.
Preston Woodworth, QB, Sr., OC Rivals
When the OC Rivals hit the field for its first game as a new combined team it will be with Preston Woodworth under center. When training camp concluded, the former Medina quarterback was named the starter after a season in which he completed 63% of his passes for 1,445 yards with 17 touchdowns and five interceptions. He also ran for 168 yards and four touchdowns.
Now, Woodworth is looking to bring his success on the diamond onto the gridiron and deliver the program its combined 10th sectional title all-time.
Nick Lemke, RB/LB, Sr., Wilson
While quarterbacks get a lot of the headlines and a lot of the love, if Wilson has a big season this year, it will be, at least partially, because of the play of senior Nick Lemke. Last year, Lemke had 68 carries for 463 yards and six touchdowns.
As one of the older players on the Lakemen roster, Lemke is in a position he hasn’t been in before. He is the teacher rather than the student for his younger teammates. It is a position that he does enjoy being in.
Jon Landen, OL/LB, Sr., North Tonawanda
The North Tonawanda football team won the Chuck Funke Bowl last year in no small part thanks to the play of Jon Landen on both sides of the ball. During his junior season, Landen had 118 tackles with 11 tackles for loss, one sack, one interception for 14 yards and two pass deflections.
Now this year, Landen is looking to play a big role in getting North Tonawanda back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Nasir Spencer, SB/LB, Sr. Newfane
When Newfane made it all the way to the state semifinals last season, Nasir Spencer was there every step of the way. The senior slot back played a big role on both sides of the ball in what is the best season in program history.
He made his biggest impact though defensively where he had 73 tackles, four tackles for loss, nine sacks for 45 yards and two pass deflections. After failing to record a sack in the Panthers’ first four games of the season, Spencer recorded two sacks in the team’s win over Silver Creek/Forestville and it kick-started a run of sacks in four consecutive games.
Spencer’s season-high for sacks in a game was three sacks against Gowanda/Pine Valley on Oct. 17.
Offensively, he became quarterback Mac Capen’s go-to target and the team’s leading receiver by 97 yards. He also was tied for second in touchdowns during his junior season. When his team needed him, he stepped up. He opened the season with over 60 yards receiving in each of the team’s first two games and finished the season with 31 receptions for 417 yards and three touchdowns.